A trial lawyer poses the following question: Do you know for sure whether the new appellate rules are going into effect December 1? Any thoughts on whether an appeal filed on November 29 (but not actually due until December 3) should maintain the old format or use the new rule? Per this Texas Supreme Court… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Technology
Subscribe to Technology RSS FeedSCOTX Adopts Word-Count Rule
Posted in Appellate Practice, Briefs, Petition for Review, Procedure, TechnologyThe Texas Supreme Court has issued an order incorporating word counts into the Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure. The order amends Rules 9, 38, 49, 52, 53, 55, 64, 68, 70, and 71. Some highlights of the amendments include (for computer-generated briefs in civil cases): a minimum 14-point font (12-point for footnotes); a 15,000-word limit… Continue Reading
Lone Star Lawyers Converging on Houston for SBOT12
Posted in Appellate Practice, Briefs, Procedure, TechnologyI will soon be departing for Houston to attend the 2012 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting. This will be my third straight year to attend and my second year as a presenter. On Thursday, as part of the Computer and Technology Section’s “Adaptable Lawyer” track, Don Cruse and I will give a talk entitled… Continue Reading
Video of SCOTX CLE Event Now Online
Posted in Appellate Practice, TechnologyThanks to the efforts of Texas Supreme Court Clerk and Austin Bar Civil Appellate Law Section Council member Blake Hawthorne, video of the recent “Evening with the Texas Supreme Court” event is now available for viewing through the Court’s webcast page. I was honored to moderate this discussion as chair of the ABA Section and… Continue Reading
Tom Mighell on iPad for Litigators
Posted in TechnologyI recently had the privilege of hearing legal technology consultant Tom Mighell make his “iPad for Litigators” presentation to the Austin Bar Association’s Civil Litigation. Texas lawyers may know Tom from his days as a litigator with Dallas firm Cowles & Thompson. He has authored an excellent legal tech blog, Inter Alia, for several years. I… Continue Reading
Hedges and Hawthorne to Speak on New TAMES System
Posted in Appellate Practice, Briefs, Procedure, TechnologyOn March 29, 2012, Fourteenth Court of Appeals Chief Justice Adele Hedges and Texas Supreme Court Clerk Blake Hawthorne will speak to the Austin Bar Civil Appellate Law Section on "The Texas Appeals Management and E-filing System: Making Our Appellate Courts More Efficient and Transparent." This talk goes along with an article Blake published in the most… Continue Reading
Solo/Small Firm Section CLE Set for 2/23
Posted in Announcements, TechnologyAs immediate past chair of the Austin Bar Association Solo/Small Firm Section, my main responsibility is to organize and run a half-day CLE program the Section puts on each year. We have put together what I think will be an outstanding program that will educate attendees on a number of subjects relevant to solos and small… Continue Reading
SCOTX to Hold Hearing on Uniform E-Filing System
Posted in Appellate Practice, TechnologyThis afternoon at 2:00, the Texas Supreme Court will hold a public hearing to explore the feasibility of a statewide uniform system for electronic court filings. The hearing will take place in the Supreme Court Courtroom and will be webcast live here. The Court is considering whether Texas ought to implement a system modeled to… Continue Reading
Results of the Twitter Brief Contest
Posted in Announcements, Briefs, TechnologyAs I wrote about here, the State Bar Appellate Section sponsored a Twitter brief contest in conjunction with the recent Advanced Civil Appellate Practice Course in Austin. The winners were announced during the Section’s annual meeting. The official PowerPoint containing the winning entries and several honorable mentions is embedded below for everyone’s enjoyment. I intend… Continue Reading
SCOTX: Attorneys Must E-File Effective 9/12/11
Posted in Appellate Practice, Supreme Court Orders, TechnologyTexas appellate e-filing continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Effective September 12, 2011, attorneys filing documents in the Texas Supreme Court must do so electronically. Pro se parties may e-file, or they may submit paper documents. View the Court’s latest e-filing order here. Don Cruse has broken down the new order over at the… Continue Reading
The Adaptable (Appellate) Lawyer
Posted in Appellate Practice, Briefs, Motions, Procedure, TechnologyI recently attended the 2011 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting in San Antonio. As mentioned here before, the Bar asked me to come back as a presenter this year. It was quite an honor. My subject was e-filing in state and federal appellate courts. In conjunction with my talk, I published a short article in… Continue Reading
Texas Appellate E-Filing Goes Live
Posted in Announcements, Appellate Practice, TechnologyHere is the text of an e-mail I received from SCOTX Clerk Blake Hawthorne this morning, along with links he included in the message: Effective March 28, 2011, you may electronically file documents, pay your fees, and serve opposing counsel using the Texas.gov electronic filing system. To use the electronic filing system you must first choose… Continue Reading
E-Filing Rollout Rescheduled for March 28
Posted in Announcements, Appellate Practice, TechnologySo say the programming people, according to TexParte. See my last two posts for more information. That should give us plenty of time to try the system out before I speak on appellate e-filing at the 2011 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting in San Antonio in late June. The State Bar has invited me… Continue Reading
E-Filing Launch Delayed
Posted in Announcements, Appellate Practice, TechnologyTexas.gov has pushed back the previously announced March 14, 2011 launch for Texas appellate e-filing, according to Texas Supreme Court Clerk Blake Hawthorne. In the process of addressing performance issues in Harris County, technical problems have arisen regarding electronic payments. A new roll-out date has yet to be announced.
At Last, E-Filing Is Coming to Texas Appellate Courts
Posted in Announcements, Appellate Practice, TechnologyFour years ago, I first asked when appellate courts would catch up on e-filing. Since then, the Fifth Circuit has successfully implemented an e-filing program, which has been mandatory for almost a year now. In state appellate courts, however, the process has been painfully slow. The Texas Supreme Court took a giant step in the… Continue Reading
Practicing With the iPad
Posted in Appellate Practice, TechnologyThe fourth and final installment in my Texas Lawyer series on technology for lawyers appears in the December 27, 2010 issue. This time, I wrote about my experience integrating an iPad into my appellate practice. It’s been positive. I have received some nice compliments about the article since it came out, and I hope it… Continue Reading
How Lawyers Can Avoid Social Media Burnout
Posted in TechnologyThis week’s Texas Lawyer contains the third article in my series on technology issues and law practice, "How Lawyers Can Avoid Social Media Burnout" (subscription required). As the title suggests, the article discusses some ways in which lawyers delving into social media for business development can deal with the overabundance of information thrown at them. … Continue Reading
SBOT & Austin Bar Appellate Sections on Twitter
Posted in Announcements, TechnologyThe State Bar of Texas Appellate Section (@TexAppOrg) and the Austin Bar Civil Appellate Law Section (@CivAppLaw), have launched their own Twitter feeds. The idea is to provide current and prospective members another way to keep up with section news, announcements, and events. If you’re on Twitter and interested in either organization, I would encourage… Continue Reading
Advertising Rules and Social Media: Texas Style
Posted in Blogs & Blogging, TechnologyThe second article in my Texas Lawyer series on technology issues and law practice appears in this week’s issue and has been republished here through Law.com. For this installment, I look at the Advertising Review Department’s new Internal Interpretive Comment 17, which addresses the interplay between Part VII of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional… Continue Reading
Headed to the State Bar Annual Meeting
Posted in Announcements, TechnologyI’m heading up to my hometown of Fort Worth to attend the 2010 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting Thursday and Friday. The Bar has put together an excellent program that should be well worth attending, regardless of one’s practice area. I am particularly excited about what is being billed as the "Legal Innovation Track: … Continue Reading
SCOTX Amends E-Document Order
Posted in Appellate Practice, TechnologyThe Texas Supreme Court has amended its recent order requiring submission of documents in electronic form. Among the changes to the previous version are requirements that attorneys (1) provide an e-mail address when submitting e-copies, (2) e-mail courtesy copies to opposing lead counsel, and (3) register for CaseMail in cases in which they are lead… Continue Reading
More on Appellate E-Filing
Posted in Appellate Practice, TechnologyEarly this year, I accepted an offer from Texas Lawyer to write a quarterly column on technology issues affecting the publication’s namesake audience. The first article in this series—an update on appellate e-filing in Texas—appeared in this week’s issue. I am happy to report that Law.com picked it up as well. I’ve received some nice… Continue Reading
Webcast of SCOTX Event Available
Posted in Appellate Practice, TechnologyThis past Thursday, the Appellate Sections of the State Bar of Texas and the Austin Bar Association put on a program entitled “An Evening with the Texas Supreme Court” at the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel here in Austin. This is the second time this event has been presented. Given the response, it will likely… Continue Reading
Appellate Court E-Filing Becoming a Reality
Posted in Appellate Practice, TechnologyThree years ago, I asked when appellate courts were going to catch up on e-filing. At the time, I noted some of the advantages e-filing presents over traditional methods and observed that appellate courts had been slow to meet the trend. Times are finally changing. Effective today, the Texas Supreme Court requires parties to e-mail… Continue Reading